HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING DURING ECONOMIC CRISES IN KAZAKHSTAN FROM 1991 TO 2015: COST SHARING POLICY AS EVIDENT RESPONSE

Abstract

Kazakhstan, being dependent on the world economy due to international cooperation in various aspects of the economy has been facing the economic issues in the world economy. During twenty-five year of independence, Kazakhstan has experienced three major economic crises. All these economic recessions affected all the spheres of life including higher education. Hyperinflation, devaluation of national currency explicitly caused the budget cuts. This study investigates how the measures taken by the government and universities to respond crises were effective. Particularly, cost sharing shifts in higher education has been analyzed It is worth noting that the frequency of financial crises is decreasing every time. The observation demonstrate the frequency of the economic crises which suggests that financial crises occur twice as often in the world than it was before. Thus, the train made three different stops to demonstrate long-term and short-term responses to Financial сrises occurred. The main lenses of investigating how higher education policies have responded to different crises is through cost-sharing practices. This is considered to be appropriate theory for this research since if we examine each level of crisis and how the government has responded to it, we evidently find that financial responses include gradually shrinking public shares in higher education, which leads to shifting the burden of the cost of higher education onto the shoulders of parents and students. Cost sharing seems to appear as a policy response in different countries and in different shapes. In order to answer the posed research questions in this study, a qualitative research approach which could provide with the detailed investigation was used for this study. “A qualitative research design not only allowed the study itself to identify the variables for exploration, but also provided ideas and sensitivities as different factors come into play at different levels including national, institutional and individual” (Creswell, 2008). The existing research took an in-depth look at the role of the government and heads of state and private higher educational institutions in the periods of crises. A qualitative methodology was applied in this study to observe higher education response to financial crises in three given periods. The qualitative research approach is used as a primary design of the study. 5 The existing research took an in-depth look at the role of the government and heads of state and private higher educational institutions in periods of crisis. A qualitative methodology was applied in this study to observe higher education response to financial crises in three given periods. The qualitative research approach is used as a primary design of the study.